Biological Sciences
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Research Snapshot: Discovery of mosquito survival tactics leaves room for new disease vector control tactics
Mosquito-borne diseases like malaria represent an ongoing global health crisis of (literally) biblical proportions. LJ Zwiebel has identified the biological factors that help female mosquitos mate, suck blood and sense environmental threats. Est. reading time: 1.5 mins. Read MoreJun 1, 2022
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Amanda Lea named 2022 Searle Scholar, wins $300K to pursue research on effect of early-life environments on human health
Amanda Lea, assistant professor of biological sciences, has been named a 2022 Searle Scholar, an honor bestowed on 15 exceptional young faculty in the biomedical sciences and chemistry. Lea will receive $300,000 in flexible funding to support her work over the next three years. Read MoreMay 20, 2022
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Graduate student Steenwyk receives prestigious 2022 Harold M. Weintraub Award
Jacob Steenwyk, a sixth-year doctoral student studying biology in The Rokas Lab, is a recipient of the 2022 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award presented by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He is the second Vanderbilt student ever to receive this honor. Read MoreMar 22, 2022
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Wikswo and VIIBRE team on track to build third-generation ‘self-driving lab’ with $1M from National Science Foundation
Vanderbilt and Chalmers University of Technology are teaming up to build a self-driving biological laboratory that uses microfluidics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to create a third-generation robot scientist that designs and conducts the massive number of experiments needed to fully characterize cellular signals and pathways and optimize biotechnologies. Read MoreMar 4, 2022
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Kenneth Catania receives 2022 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books
Kenneth Catania, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences, has received the 2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books in the Young Adult Science Book category for "Great Adaptations: Star-Nosed Moles, Electric Eels and Other Tales of Evolution’s Mysteries Solved." Read MoreFeb 15, 2022
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Researchers aim to define host-parasite interactions by modeling the effects of coinfection on community dynamics
Research conducted at Vanderbilt by Faith Rovenolt and Ann Tate has been published in a new study in The American Naturalist that models how parasites interact to affect their host’s behavior. The results of the research reinforce an understanding of the influence of disease in community dynamics. Read MoreFeb 14, 2022
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Graduate student to study biological evolution in Malaysia through ESI grant
Audrey Arner, a first-year Ph.D. student, recently earned a pilot research grant from Vanderbilt’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative to study the evolutionary mismatch hypothesis in Malaysia. The basis of the research seeks to understand how genetic characteristics that were beneficial to communities in the past could be harmful in a modern environment. Read MoreFeb 11, 2022
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Vanderbilt-led researchers show that generalist species are ‘jack of all trades and masters of all’
Over the past decade, Larisa DeSantis, paleontologist and associate professor of biological sciences, has worked with a team of former Vanderbilt undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and experts from across the globe to show how species can be both generalized at the species level and specialized individually—a probable key to their success. Read MoreFeb 9, 2022
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Seven Vanderbilt faculty elected as AAAS fellows in 2021
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs C. Cybele Raver joins six others at Vanderbilt as 2021 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society. Read MoreJan 26, 2022
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Vanderbilt researchers combine paleontology and fluid physics to uncover Ediacaran nurseries
Looking at prehistoric organisms allows Simon Darroch and his students to describe how, when and why complex life evolved on this planet. Their work is a piece of the puzzle in understanding how likely it is that we’ll find complex life beyond Earth. Read MoreJan 7, 2022
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Vanderbilt scientist’s team project wins $55,000 to research fundamental cell behavior
Lars Plate wins $55,000 from Scialog to further collaborative research on cell behavior. Read MoreJan 6, 2022
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Research Snapshot: Producing green fuel, and more rapid determination of the biological consequences of gene editing
Vanderbilt researchers examine how to rapidly characterize the biological impact of genetic editing on bacteria for energy production, drug discovery and more. Est. reading time: 2.5 mins. Read MoreDec 13, 2021
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Vanderbilt researcher outlines how whales’ sensory systems have evolved through imaging technology
In a review of 100 years of research on the sensory systems in whales, Rachel Racicot, research assistant professor of biological sciences, describes advances in the field and key questions that remain. Read MoreDec 2, 2021
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Research Snapshot: Mosquitoes have a mutual symbiotic relationship with malaria-causing pathogen
By reproducing conditions under which malaria occurs in nature, the Zwiebel Lab finds that the deadly pathogens responsible for human malaria provide a specific adaptive advantage to disease-transmitting mosquitoes, explaining the persistence of this ancient disease. Est. reading time: 2 mins. Read MoreNov 19, 2021
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Research Snapshot: Darwin’s magnificent mystery and the microbiome
Vanderbilt researchers are reimagining Charles Darwin’s work by communicating how the origin of species might depend largely on the microbiome—the totality of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other organisms—living in or on a host body. Read MoreNov 1, 2021
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Research Snapshot: Eat breakfast and stop late-night snacking
Eating a larger, protein-filled breakfast is one of the best ways to maintain a healthy weight. A smaller but still significant change would be to avoid late-night snacking. Est. reading time: 3.5 mins. Read MoreOct 28, 2021
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Research Snapshot: Mosquito larvae are surprisingly complex
L.J. Zwiebel and his lab show that mosquito larvae, the age group targeted for most control programs, are far more sophisticated than previously thought. Est. reading time: 2 mins. Read MoreAug 17, 2021
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Research Snapshot: Novel discovery describes the mechanisms of wound detection in the body
Pioneering research from Vanderbilt scientists discovers the mechanism by which epithelial cells first find and react to wounds. Est. reading time: 3 mins. Read MoreJul 27, 2021
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Research Snapshot: Bees can tell time by temperature, Vanderbilt research finds
Biological scientist discovers the third way by which bees can tell time: temperature. Est. reading time: 2 mins. Read MoreMay 20, 2021
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Nine faculty named 2021 Chancellor Faculty Fellows
Nine outstanding faculty members from across the university have been selected for the 2021 cohort of Chancellor Faculty Fellows. This group is composed of highly accomplished, recently tenured faculty from a wide variety of disciplines and areas of expertise. Read MoreMay 12, 2021